Opinion page editor Rick Holmes and other writers blog about national politics and issues. Holmes & Co. is a Blog for Independent Minds, a place for a free-flowing discussion of policy, news and opinion. This blog is the online cousin of the Opinion
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Opinion page editor Rick Holmes and other writers blog about national politics and issues. Holmes & Co. is a Blog for Independent Minds, a place for a free-flowing discussion of policy, news and opinion. This blog is the online cousin of the Opinion section of the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Mass. As such, our focus starts there and spreads to include Massachusetts, the nation and the world. Since successful blogs create communities of readers and writers, we hope the \x34& Co.\x34 will also come to include you.

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By Rick Holmes

March 11, 2013
5:05 p.m.

People are starting to report a sudden shift in the wind in Washington. The partisan ice is breaking. Players on opposing teams are talking to each other, showing new flexibility in their positions. Civility is making a comeback. E.J. Dionne reflects this thinking in today’s Daily News.

Granted, these reports come from people desperate to see a change in the political dynamic. But there are good reasons to expect such a change. Consider the centrifugal forces at work in national politics:

- Obama is a lame duck. That empowers him to make bold moves. It also empowers Democrats, who no longer have to worry about his re-election and can look to their own futures.

- Both the magnetic centers of the Republican Party – the Tea Party grassroots and the K Street axis – came out of the 2012 elections weakened.

- Boehner is hanging on to the speaker’s chair by his fingernails. He can’t impose discipline. Neither can Mitch McConnell, who has a primary challenge to worry about. Harry Reid has always been seen as weak, and he’s got an unruly class of freshman senators to deal with.

- In short, everyone’s a free agent, empowered to push whatever policy or personal agenda he or she wants. Rand Paul made himself a force on the topic of executive power with one 13-hour speech. Others will find their own niches to occupy. Some will find pockets of public anger to echo; some will decide civility sells and that independent voters will reward dealmakers.

It seems like a healthy turn of events to me, especially compared to the last Congress.